(07-12-2012 12:04 PM)Reltzik Wrote: Age of adulthood during the age of Deuteronomy would have been 13, I think. Later New Testament passages may have gone by Roman standards for adulthood, which I am unfamiliar with.

Actually, those verses in Deuteronomy require that the rebellious offspring be brought before the city's elders, and (presumably if the elders agree the accused is an all around no-good kid (even adult kid), but their assent isn't specified) then every last man in the city has to participate in the execution. (What's the 13+ male population of Vegas, again?) And it has to be by stoning, not paddles and belts. So no, this Christian nation should be shocked because this ISN'T what the Bible prescribes.

... or, you know, because Christianity in practice, for most people, DOESN'T involve doing exactly what the Bible says. Including, in this case, the commandment not to kill, whatever number that might be.

The age of adulthood is of little importance to me its simply a number. I felt no diffence from the age of 12 to 13 or the age 20 to 21. The fact that there is an actual law that calls for a human stoning over disobedience bewilders me still.
My underlying point is that THIS story could easily be inserted into the Old Testament and it fit in nicely...not even seem a tiny bit out of place. Its very much in vouge with what christians GOD would have done.
THe story is tragic in the worst way. THe fact that christianity and religion is tossed in there will make it a challanging case to try and a judge would just assume to use the 10 foot pole rule than to make a decision in this case. When you have Christian Science parents getting away with murder these days...how is THIS any different? I bet 5 cents these parents walk with a slap on the hand (jesus be praised).

(07-12-2012 01:47 PM)Denicio Wrote: My underlying point is that THIS story could easily be inserted into the Old Testament and it fit in nicely...not even seem a tiny bit out of place. Its very much in vouge with what christians GOD would have done.
THe story is tragic in the worst way. THe fact that christianity and religion is tossed in there will make it a challanging case to try and a judge would just assume to use the 10 foot pole rule than to make a decision in this case. When you have Christian Science parents getting away with murder these days...how is THIS any different? I bet 5 cents these parents walk with a slap on the hand (jesus be praised).

Agreed on the OT tone.

But I don't think this is about Christianity, save that Bible-reading was apparently a chore (like homework) that the kid was punished for not doing. I wouldn't be surprised if "failing to take out the garbage" was also on the list of actionable offenses. For that matter, reading one of the sources that the Huff cites, the injuries that sound most likely to have caused a death were not from the Bible-verse beating (which had happened two nights before hospitalization), but the not-doing-the-homework beating, which was the previous night. In that beating, RJ attempted to fight back and was severely shaken (which can cause brain injury in children, though I THINK that's more an issue at a younger age), and then fell and hit his head while trying to escape.

Add to this that there's not one whiff, that I can find, about Christianity being put forth as a defense in this case. No Deuteronomy, no spared rod and spoiled children, nada. The only actual link to Christianity was the justification (not that it was justified) for a previous beating, and even that was a weak connection.

You say he's going to get off easy because of the Christian thing? I doubt it. I don't think anyone will be able to prove murder, because intent to kill doesn't seem to have been present. HARM the boy, yes, kill, no. Without intent to kill, it's manslaughter, unless Nevada has a special law about deaths resulting from child abuse counting as murder. And given the confessions already rendered, the way Christianity hasn't been used to justify the crimes (as in the case of Christian Science quackery), the age and dependency of the victim, I think the stepfather's likely going to pull a harsh sentence. Possibly not the max, since this thing has plea bargain written all over it (defense lawyers don't like bringing these cases before juries, because juries are less receptive to "manslaughter, not murder" arguments when the prosecutor shows them photos of a dead kid), but I doubt any judge will be inclined to leniency. MAYBE it can be argued that the head trauma was a result of the kid falling down while running through the house and not the beating, but I doubt a jury will let that fly in context, and I doubt the prosecutor would plea-bargain a kid's death away entirely. So no, I don't think he's going to get off easy at all.

If there is any real connection to Christianity at all here to be made, it would be to question whether there's a statistical correlation between religiosity and child abuse. What percentage of child abusers are Christian, and how does that compare to the national average of Christian-versus-not? I suspect above national average, and I also suspect that (in many cases) there would be a causal link or a common-cause link. Not in terms of conscious justification, but in terms of mindset. And I should also emphasize that this wouldn't be about Christianity in GENERAL, because I could think of a few branches of Christianity that would be fundamentally appalled (whatever the Bible might say) by child abuse. So break it down further, examine how child abuse statistically correlates to TYPES of Christianity, and I suspect you'll find it weighted more towards "literalist", "fundamentalist", and "religiously conservative" and away from liberal Christianity.

Just guessing. Or maybe hypothesizing.

I am an antipistevist. That's like an antipastovist, only with epistemic responsibility instead of bruschetta.

I am sorry if I am missing something, however a friend of mine has a child that is nine months old. My sister in law has a boy that is almost 3 I think. I am pretty sure that as soon as someone that has a penis pops out of a pussy, they are someone's son. This verse does not indicate they need to be an adult. Yes I am using foul language, because this shit pisses me off. These parents need to be jailed for multiple life sentences, after all they put people in prison for longer for lesser crimes. If found to be crazy, then they need to be put into a mental institution where they are to be kept so drugged out that all they can do is drool until they are either cured or die of natural causes. I know I am being extreme, but look at the news. They seriously put people into prison for far longer than a human can live for far lesser crimes.